Syria

News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Aug 15 – 21, 2018)

This past week talks were held in Cairo attended by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and several small terrorist organizations in order to reach an arrangement that would lead to the end of the hostilities in the Gaza Strip. While the arrangement is being discussed Hamas continues to implement its policy of controlled violence on the ground. The most prominent event in Judea and Samaria was a stabbing attack in the Old City of Jerusalem, carried out by an Israeli Arab from the central city of Umm al-Fahm.
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Spotlight on Iran (August 5 – August 19, 2018)

The future of cooperation between Syria and Iran following the settlement of the Syrian war: the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces spoke on the phone with the Syrian Minister of Defense who invited the Iranian for a visit in Damascus. The statement made by Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, confirming that his country intends to abide by the renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran, aroused an outcry in Tehran and among some in the Iraqi political arena.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (August 9-15, 2018)

The Syrian army campaign to take over the ISIS enclave northeast of As-Suwayda is about to end. ISIS operatives have been repelled to the area of Al-Safa, their main stronghold, and are now surrounded and cut off from supplies. This week, the Syrian army continued to reinforce its troops in key areas around Idlib.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (August 2-8, 2018)

On August 2, 2018, the Syrian army and its allies completed the campaign to take over southern Syria. In order to ease the pressure on the Yarmouk Basin, the ISIS enclave northeast of As-Suwayda initiated a deadly showcase attack against the Druze population in the city of As-Suwayda and its rural area (July 25, 2018). This is apparently the background for Syria’s decision to take over the ISIS enclave northeast of As-Suwayda, even at the expense of a certain delay in the campaign to take over the Idlib area (for which preparations continue).
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Spotlight on Iran (July 22 – August 5, 2018)

As tensions mount between Iran and the United States, the Commander of the Qods Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Qasem Soleimani, warned the United States against launching military action on Iran. The Iranian news agency Tasnim published a video documenting the capture of the town of Albu Kamal in Syria by the fighters of the Fatemiyoun Brigade, the Afghan militia operating under IRGC guidance in Syria. Iran, Russia and Turkey continue to hold deliberations concerning the settlement of the war in Syria. In an interview to Israeli media, the Russian ambassador to Israel stated that Russia can not force Iran to withdraw from Syria, but only try to convince it to do so.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (July 26 – August 1, 2018)

On July 31, 2018, the Syrian army almost completed its takeover of the Yarmouk Basin from ISIS. At the same time, the Syrian Army completed its takeover of the area of Quneitra. Syrian soldiers entered the old city of Quneitra and raised the Syrian flag (a “victory picture”). In order to ease the pressure exerted on it in the Yarmouk Basin, ISIS carried out a combined attack against the Druze civilian population in the city of As-Suwayda and several villages in its vicinity.
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